


After

by RiverKaze



Series: After Effects of a Revolution [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Clueless Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Connor (Detroit: Become Human) is Bad at Feelings, Connor Deserves Happiness, Deviant Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Gavin Reed Redemption, Gavin Reed Swears, Good Dog Sumo (Detroit: Become Human), Hank Anderson Swears, Hank Anderson and Connor Live Together, I'm Bad At Tagging, Minor Markus/Simon (Detroit: Become Human), Multi, POV Connor, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Protective Hank Anderson, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2019-07-13 13:14:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16018667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiverKaze/pseuds/RiverKaze
Summary: After everything has happened in Detroit. After becoming a deviant. After realising that he was now useless. What else was Connor going to do then see the one person that had become like family to him. Or what he thought family might feel like.Emotions are a tricky thing for Connor to comprehend. But with the help of Hank, Markus, and even Gavin, he learns to understand them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I may have played the roboConnor route and it may have broken my heart a little...  
> So I really wanted to write a fluffy-ish piece (I'm bad at fluff though, so this is what everyone gets instead)

It was November 12th, 2038. A fresh layer of snow lay on the ground, crunching under Connor's shoes as he walked up to the food truck that Hank loved. He could spot the man standing there, shifting his feet, and with his back to Connor. He hadn’t seen Connor yet, but Connor couldn't bring himself to move from his spot a few feet away. 

Connor still found it strange when he _felt_ emotions, such as the happiness that overcame him at the sight of the man in front of him. He stood there a little unsure as to what to say or do. The past night had almost cost them both their lives. The thought that Hank could have died then sent a shiver down Connor's spine, yet another new sensation he would have to get used to.

As Hank turned around in his fidgeting state he spotted Connor standing there. The man sent him a wide grin before moving towards him. Connor couldn't help the smile that came to his face either. It was only a moment later that Hank had him in a tight hug, one he returned just as fiercely. They stayed that way for a few more minutes before separating.

"Whatcha gonna do now, kid?" Hank asked as he shoved his hands back in his pockets. 

"I am not entirely sure," Connor answered honestly. "I will not be able to return to CyberLife and I will also be unable to assist you in any future investigations."

Hank gave Connor an odd look and huffed out a sigh, "Really, Connor?"

Connor turned his head to the side as he registered the sarcasm in Hank's voice. It had taken him a long time, but he could now recognise it, even if he didn't yet understand it. "I assure you, Lieutenant, I am being very serious."

"Even as a deviant, you're still the same." Hank grumbled and began to walk further down the road.

"Of course, I am, Lieutenant." Connor said as he followed along behind Hank down the silent road. He could see Hank's car further down the road, a thin layer of snow covering most of it from sight. _How long had Hank been waiting for me?_ Connor thought as he quickened his pace to walk beside Hank as they neared the car.

"Com' on then," Hank said as he unlocked the car and quickly got in, rubbing his palms together to warm them up again. Connor slid easily into the passenger seat and as Hank started the car Connor adjusted the heating for Hank's benefit. Hank sent him a questioning look but didn’t comment on it. 

"Where are we going, Lieutenant?" Connor asked as he did a quick analysis of Hank's vitals. _Just to ensure that Hank hadn't caught a cold or hypothermia,_ Connor told himself.

**ANALYSE HANK  
** Processing Data…  
Mild Exhaustion  
Body temperature: Normal 

With the analysis coming back as positive as Connor could have hoped for he leaned back in his chair. Hope, another weird emotion that Connor would have to get more used to.

"To the Station, they're probably havin' a fuckin' ball without us there," Hank said.

"A ball?" Connor asked with a frown on his face, why would the Station be having a ball?

"A hard time," Hank answered with a huff, "With this deviant stuff, they're gonna be swamped with work. And they're gonna need a good detective or two."

"But, Hank, I'm… I can no longer assist you." Connor stated, his frown deepening as Hank sent him a quick smile before turning back to the road.

"Son, I doubt they're going to protest," Hank said in confidence before laughing as he added, "Well, maybe Gavin will, but that asshole can deal with it."

Connor kept quiet after that, he knew that Hank was a rather stubborn man so arguing would do nothing. Instead Connor looked down the paths as they headed further into the city, the street was lined with half snow-covered corpses of androids that had met an unfortunate end. It caused a tight feeling in Connor's chest and he brought his hand up to clutch at his chest. He was still having difficulty recognising his own feelings, his sensors were only equipped to determine what others were feeling depending on visual and audio input.

 **RUNNING SYSTEMS DIAGNOSIS  
All Systems Functional**

"You okay there, Son?" Hank said as he glanced over at Connor.

Connor looked back over to Hank instead of the bodies that were slowly disappearing under the snow. "My chest hurts." He told Hank honestly, maybe Hank could help him categorise his new emotions. "However, my diagnostic system states that everything is in optimum working order."

Hank looked thoughtful for a moment as he stopped at a set of lights. Rubbing a hand through his beard. "What were ya thinking of?"

"The androids," Connor said as he gestured to one of the snow-covered lumps on the sidewalk.

Hank looked over to where Connor gestured and grimaced, turning back to the road just as the light turned green. "Could be a lot of thing, kid," Hank answered, trying to keep his eyes on the road instead of the lumps on the side of the road now that he knew what they were. "Could be heartbreak, sadness, grief. Could even be guilt?"

"Guilt?"

"We hunted deviants, Connor," Hank sighed as they finally reached the Station. "I mean, yeah we were doin' our job, but those guys just wanted to live. Even I feel guilty."

Connor thought about that for a second. It could have been guilt but without something to compare the feeling to he was unable to conclude that it was in fact guilt that he was identifying. So instead, he stored the sensation in his memory and made a mental note to compare it with a similar situation, when applicable. 

A knock on his window startled Connor out of his thoughts and he turned to see Hank staring at him. Hank shook his head before waving a hand at Connor, to get out of the car, then turned to walk into the precinct. Connor opened the door but slowed as he got out of the car, his stress levels flashed in the corner of his vision as he began his decent up the stair to the Station.

**STRESS LEVELS: 43%**

There was a weird feeling in his stomach area now. He knew there was nothing wrong with his systems, other than the stress, but he rechecked them again anyway.

 **RUNNING SYSTEMS DIAGNOSIS  
All Systems Functional**

_Another new emotion,_ Connor thought and sighed as he pushed open the front doors and passed the many people that almost filled the reception area. He spotted Hank making his way over to Fowler's office, the man in question was speaking on the phone to someone. 

Connor caught up with Hank just as he interrupted the Captain's call. Shutting the door behind Connor then pushing him into a seat. Connor looked over at Hank questioningly, a slow response on the tip of his tongue and his mouth hanging open but he closed his mouth as Hank held a hand up to him. Connor was more than a little confused and as so cocked his head to the side in question but didn't say another word as Fowler slowly set his phone down and waited for Hank to get comfortable. 

"Continuing the case even when I said not to…" Fowler shot a pointed look at Connor before turning back to Hank, "I should really be writing you up for this, Hank."

**STRESS LEVELS: 54%**

"It was not Lieutenant Anderson's fault, Captain." Connor said, drawing the Captain's glare. "I merely believed that we would be able to solve the case if we examined the evidence available to us. I did not mean to undermine your authority."

"Connor!" Hank said as he slapped him on the arm. "I went with your stupid plan, so I'm to blame."

"Maybe I should just write you both up then." Fowler said with a sigh. They all knew he wouldn't that it was just the threat that he always told Hank. He sighed again and sat back further into his chair. "We have plenty of cases to go through so hurry up and get started."

With that the Captain went back to writing something on his computer and clearly meant that as a dismissal. Hank got up, pulling Connor up as well and heading out the door and to their desks. It was going to be a long day but at least Connor could be of some use still.

**STRESS LEVELS: 27%**


	2. Chapter 2

The Station was quiet for most of the day as most of the human police had either been out all night. It was well past noon when Connor heard the familiar voice of Detective Reed. He cringed at the memory of how he'd left Gavin last night and he was not looking forward to the confrontation that was almost inevitable.

**STRESS LEVELS: 45%**

"You okay there, Connor?" Hank's said causing Connor to turn and look at him. He glanced quickly towards Gavin's desk before turning back to the lieutenant.

"I am perfectly alright," He lied as he went back to his work. There waited many files that were in need of processing and it was not a pleasant task, but he was glad for the distraction. 

"Sure, ya are," Hank said with a hint of sarcasm but returned to his work all the same.

Connor watched out of the corner of his eyes as Gavin walked to Captain Fowler's office, the door closing behind him. From what Connor could see Gavin had some rather nasty bruising on his face and it appeared that his lip was also split. Connor took a deep breath as he tried to focus back on his work. He could feel the weird feeling in his stomach again and he wanted to ask Hank about what emotion it could be, but something was stopping him. instead he decided to run another systems diagnosis to be safe.

**STRESS LEVELS: 61%**

**RUN SYSTEMS DIAGNOSIS**

**CAUTION:  
THIRIUM PUMP ACCELERATED  
REGULATOR MALFUNCTIONING**

**STRESS LEVELS: 69%**

"Hank, I-" Connor began before getting interrupted.

"So, after everything this plastic prick has done, he's still here," Gavin sneered and leaned on the desk that sat across from Connor and Hank. 

**STRESS LEVELS: 73%**

"Yeah, and ya gonna have to get used to it, Gavin," Hank replied before Connor could get a word in.

"Can you see what this prick has done?" Gavin shouted as he walked up to Hank, "What's preventing him from going after you?"

"To be far, you were attempting to shoot me," Connor spoke before realising he had said his thoughts aloud. That was something he wasn't used to, and he could feel his thirium pump pumping harder.

He was lucky though, as that sentence seemed to still everyone. Hank and Gavin stared at him, Hank in concern and Gavin in shock. It didn't take long before the two were talking over each other.

"You tried to shoot Connor-" Hank shouted at Gavin at the same time as Gavin sputtered to Connor, "Your blush is blue?!"

"What?" they all said in different stages of shock.

Connor immediately turned to his console, activating the mirror tool to get a good look at what Gavin had been talking about. He stared at himself as he drowned out the arguing of the other two men. His face was flushed, but in an unnatural way, it had flushed like with his thirium blood. He was flushed… he was embarrassed. Finding that that was what his current emotion was sent a weird wave of relief through his systems and he couldn't help but check them again.

**RUN SYSTEMS DIAGNOSIS  
All Systems Functional**

**STRESS LEVELS: 32%**

He sighed and sat further back in his chair. The unknown emotions he was feeling were becoming a problem. He needed to hasten his identification of them as he knew they would eventually get him into trouble if not kept in check. And that was something he could not have happen when it wasn't just his life he was keeping an eye on.

"You shot at Connor?!"

"What else was I going to do when he was in the evidence room without authorisation."

"Since when do you care about needin' permission?!"

"Since I don't trust your plastic partner! And I was right not to, look what he did!"

"Yeah, ya got your ass handed to you by an android. How'd ya like that, asshole!"

Connor knew that at that point he really needed to intervene. Hank had Gavin by the collar of his jacket, both men's faces were red from their arguing. Connor stood from his desk and moved around it until he was facing the two angry men, he brought his hands up and placed one on Gavin's shoulder and one on Hank's outstretched arm.

"Hank, I'm okay," He spoke in a soft tone. He somehow understood what Hank was feeling, having felt something possibly similar when the other Connor had a gun pointed at Hank. The fear of losing someone you have thought could become family to you was a hard thing to feel when he had only just become deviant. 

Shaking himself out of his thoughts and watching as Hank lessened his grip on Gavin, he turned to face him. Gavin's face was mottled with bruises which looked even worse at such a close proximity. His split lip was now open again and small drops of blood where running down his chin. He had a bizarre desire to sample Gavin's dripping blood from his lip but refrained himself. Not that the idea left his thought processes entirely.

He had to shake himself out of his thoughts when he heard a subtle cough from Hank. Had he really been looking at Gavin's lips for that long.

"I am sorry for my behaviour before, Gavin," Connor said as he tried to focus on looking the man in the eyes, he softened his voice as he continued, "I didn't mean to cause you harm."

Connor's hand still rested on Gavin's shoulder, having fallen from Hank's arm when the man had let go of Gavin completely, not that Connor had noticed. He was watching as Gavin flushed red, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to find his words.

"W-whatever, asshole," Gavin said as he pushed passed Connor and back to his own desk. Connor watched as he walked away, a little confused as to why, exactly.

"So, Connor," Hank said, drawing Connor out of his thoughts again. _Is this a common thing for humans?_ Connor thought as he moved back to his desk. "There something ya want to tell me, Son?"

"No," Connor answered immediately, _was there something I need to tell Hank?_ He ran a diagnostic check, but everything came back operational, even his stress levels were down. He couldn’t think of anything that might cause Hank to believe he had something to tell him, "Why?"

"Just curious," Hank said with a knowing look in his eyes that confused Connor further. 

He decided to ignore that look and instead wanted to understand these weird feeling, maybe he could ask Markus for assistance in this. He was an android and possibly the only one that didn't want his head on a spike. 

He felt the same heart throbbing feeling and an additional curling in his gut. Maybe that was what guilt felt like, it seemed to be the most likely one. He definitely needed help in identifying these emotions he was having, it was starting to … annoy … him and they all seemed to lead from one to another. Connor felt as if he was stuck in a spiral. At the moment, if he was able to recognise an emotion it would make him happy, then he'd experience a new one, or multiple, and if he could identify any of them he'd be happy again. The spiralling emotions were affecting his current work capability now. He was going to have to talk to Markus sooner than he'd like to. 

Connor looked over at Hank, the man working hard at his desk for once. "Lieutenant?"

Hank rolled his eyes before glancing over at Connor, "What?"

"I may need to leave early today," Connor stated. He really didn't want to leave early but he was starting to feel uneasy about these emotions.

"Leave early?" Hank asked confused, "Why ya gotta leave early?"

"These…" Connor started before considering whether or not to tell the whole truth. "These new emotions that I have been feeling, since becoming deviant, have been interrupting my focus. So, I plan on asking Markus if he could assist me with understanding them."

Hank's face looked disappointed before he schooled it into a more neutral one, the disappointed look confused Connor and he made a note to ask about it later. 

"Markus, the deviant leader?" 

"That is correct."

"I'll come too."

"What?!" Connor yelped then regained himself, "I… I don't think it is wise for you to accompany me."

"Connor, son, I'm coming with. Ya won't be able to stop me, and it'd pro'bly be safer if we went together then me goin' by myself." Hank said, a smirk on his face. Hank knew he had won when he'd said he'd just go by himself. Connor did not want that. No one might like _him_ but he was still one of them, whereas Hank was human and they'd all experienced much worse from humans.

Connor sighed in defeat and got up from his chair, motioning for Hank to get up too. He'd call Markus in the car once he was in a calmer state. Hank ducked into Fowler's office, saying a few words, then caught up to Connor just as they passed Gavin's desk. The detective turned away from them as they passed, and Connor could feel something tighten in his chest. 

He was getting sick of emotions and even had a stray thought that maybe being a machine wasn't so bad. That was until Connor turned to look at Hank, the man's mental state had been improving since Connor had started at the Police Department and that there was reason enough for Connor. Hank was like family to him and he was glad that his deviancy had helped prevent him from committing suicide.

"Alright, where we headed?" Hank asked as he started the car.

"Take the next left," Connor said and continued to give directions. He directed them to a food truck for Hank while he called Markus to let him know they were on their way. The food truck wasn't far from their destination, they'd be there in 4 minutes and 23 seconds if they were driving but Connor let Hank take his time as he ate his food. It was nice to have this kind of interaction again and Connor found himself smiling at Hank, thankful yet again that they'd both survived the last couple of days.


	3. Chapter 3

The large abandoned warehouse next to the port was where Markus and the other deviant now lived. Until Markus and his friends had finished assisting in writing the new android laws, it was the only safe haven for the androids that had nowhere else to go. It was for those who feared their previous masters, those who no longer wanted to live with their human families, and those that were waiting for their human families to return to Detroit. 

It didn't surprise Connor that quite a few androids would be returning to their humans. He had seen it before, in the case of the PL600 named Daniel. However, now many of the humans knew that the androids had feeling, thoughts, emotions, most were more than happy to include their android into their family. As Connor thought about the case now he felt bad for Daniel. If he had become a deviant now, instead of 4 months ago, things would have been much different for him and Connor wouldn't have had to shoot.

Connor pulled himself from his thoughts as he turned to the warehouse. He knew Markus was expecting him, but he was still unsure if this was the right course of action. Yes, he needed help, but should he have maybe asked someone else for assistance instead. The answer was no, he couldn't have asked another android for help, he didn't know any other android that could assist him. Many of the police androids had assisted in the march and hadn't returned to work and he hadn't had any interaction with them before then. He made a note to seek them out and ask if they were going to re-join the department, why he wanted to know that still baffled him a bit though.

"Ya gonna join me, or just wait in the car?" Hank said in a mocking tone. Connor turned to see that Hank was standing outside the car, leaning on the door with his head poking in. A smirk drew across his face as he saw what was, no doubt, a surprised look on Connor's own face. Connor hadn't even heard Hank exit the vehicle, he'd been too lost in thought.

"I'll join you," Connor said as he opened his own door, he was still surprised by not noticing Hank exiting, or that he had turned the car off, which included the music. Connor looked up at the building before turning to follow Hank in. He didn't always understand why, but it seemed essential to Hank that he be in the lead when visiting a place, they hadn't been to before.

They entered from a side door which lead to a series of small offices. Markus had made it clear that it was probably best to keep out of sight as to not scare any one. Which of course meant that it was inevitable that they ran into someone, someone they knew. From a previous case too.

Tracy scowled as she glanced at the two, behind her was the brown-haired Tracy peering over the others shoulder to no doubt see what had caused them to stop moving. Connor wasn't sure what to do in this kind of situation. He'd chased these girls, almost shot them, and then had to watch as they climbed the fence and ran. It had been a bitter thing for him to watch when it had happened, but he knew now he'd made the right choice. 

"Good to see you two still kickin'," Hank said with a warm smile on his face. Connor remembered when they had ran, that Hank hadn't been upset about it in the slightest. It had made something in Connor accept the failed mission a lot easier than he would have.

The blue haired Tracy turned to Hank, surprise flashing across her face quickly before she schooled her expression. A moment later the browned haired Tracy moved from behind the other and stuck out her hand to Connor, waiting for him to take it.

"Thank you for not shooting us," She said as Connor finally shook her hand, she moved to Hank and did the same before returning to the other Tracy's side and linking their hands, "I know you could have shot us in that alley. So, again, thank you."

After she finished she moved passed the two, pulling the other Tracy along with her. the blue haired Tracy simply nodded at them as she passed and whispered a quiet 'thanks' as they disappeared around the corner.

Something pleasant sat in Connor's chest as they made their way towards Markus' office once again. He wasn’t sure what the feeling was, but he knew it had come from being able to help those Tracy's and receiving thanks in return. It was one of the nicer emotions that he had experienced so far, and he was fairly eager to experience it again.

They arrived at Markus' office quickly and knocked on the door. A PL600, 'Simon' his programming reminded him, answered the door, revealing three other androids in the room, Markus, a WR400 named North, and a PJ500 named Josh. They had all turned to inspect the ones that had interrupted them, it caused the whirling feeling in Connor stomach to start again. He was glad when Markus spoke, it allowed him to focus on his voice instead of the eyes on him.

"Connor, and Hank I presume?" Markus asked as he moved to greet them both. 

"Yup," Hank said, shaking the androids hand when it was offered. "And ya much be the infamous Markus, nice to finally meet ya."

"Likewise," Markus said with a grin, "Let's head to another room. Simon?"

"Alright." The android said as he moved further down the hall, opening and closing doors before leaving one open and gesturing to Markus. 

"Well," Markus said as he gestured towards where Simon stood waiting, "shall we?"

They made their way back down the hall, entering the bare room. There was a window on the far side that sat closed but at the sound of Hank sneezing Simon made his way over to open it up. there was only one chair in the whole room and Simon brought it over towards Hank, he sat it down behind the man and opened his mouth, obviously to offer it but Hank beat him to it.

"I ain't that old that I can't stand!" Hank said, it wasn't in a mean way, but it did cause Simon to blush. It was an interesting thing to see happen. When it had happened to himself he'd only caught what it looked like already there. This allowed him to watch as the colour flushed onto Simon's face, how quickly it appeared and how bright it actually was. 

Connor watched as Markus came up behind Simon and placed a hand on his shoulder, Simon's blush dulled, and Connor couldn't help but wonder why. He was about to ask when Markus spoke first.

"So, Connor, what is it that you need help with?" Markus asked.

Connor opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, he knew what he needed help with but how was he supposed to ask. He realised that it might be a bit invasive to just ask the android to share some memories of his feelings, though Connor knew it would be the quickest way to gain the knowledge he needed. Maybe he could think of something different. He was apparently quiet for too long as Hank answered for him in the end.

"My boy here is havin' some trouble," Hank said, "ya think ya can help him?"

"Trouble with what?" Simon asked, seemingly fine now judging by the fact that his face was no longer flushed.

"Emotions," Hank answered, Connor kept quiet. He had the weird stomach feeling again and he felt as if his face was heating up slowly, as Hank continued to speak. "He hasn't been deviant for long, and they're screwin' with his focus."

A sympathetic look crossed over both Markus' and Simon's face, it made the heat in Connor's own face increase. 

"We can help but it might take a while," Markus said a thoughtful look on his face.

"How long?" Connor asked.

"A week at most," Markus answered, "It'd be less but we're busy and for now it'd be best if it was us you were learning from," Markus gestured to himself and Simon, "some of the other's might not understand. You used to be a deviant hunter and a lot of the deviants here still hold that against you."

"That's bull-" Hank shouted, only to be interrupted by Connor.

"I understand," Connor said to Markus before turning to Hank, "We hunted their kind, Hank, and they are still scared that I might be faking deviancy, so to hunt them again. It is completely acceptable that they do not trust me."

Markus and Simon smiled at that, it was a weird sort of approving smile. One that Connor had only gotten from Hank on the rare occasion.

It didn't take much more to organise meetings for the coming week. Hank voted that Connor take that week off, or well stayed away from the office. He'd said Connor would be as emotional as a woman on her period and with Connor not being able to understand or control his emotions at the moment he was unable to deny that accusation. 

So, for the following week Connor stayed at Lieutenant Anderson's house. He watched after Sumo, took him for walks, and feed him the appropriate amount of food. Until the dog begged for more that is, turned out that Connor was a sucker when it came to a puppy face. Connor did as much of his work as he could from Hank's house, which was not as much as he would have liked. And as such, he had much time to himself. In that time, he would practice what he'd been doing with Markus and Simon. He found himself analysing much of Hank's belongings, and then cleaning them up. 

By the time the week was up Hank's house was spotless, Sumo was acting spoiled, which made Hank laugh and spoil him further, and Connor had a much better grasp on his emotions, and what each one of them meant. Connor was glad when the week was up, he'd finally be able to get back to working properly and he was excited for it too.


	4. Chapter 4

Connor walked into the office early on his first day back. As he walked toward Fowler's office the man inside waved him away. Fowler was already aware that Connor would be back today, Hank hadn't let anyone forget it. Connor registered the gesture and turned to his own desk. It was plain compared to the other officers in the precinct. He wondered vaguely what he would put on there. Others had photo's, personal items, and other knickknacks. Maybe he could put up a photo of Hank and Sumo, that would definitely be something one puts on their desk.

It was quiet at the station this early, the night shift and day shift changeover was in about an hour and Connor had come in early to talk to Captain Fowler, which apparently, he hadn't needed to do. So, it was going to be another hour until Hank arrived. They didn't have any pressing assignments to work on but without anything better to do Connor got to work on filling some paperwork.

He was going thought the large about of recorded calls and texts and placing them in their respective file when a voice broke through his concentration. 

"So, the plastic prick is back," Gavin said seemingly more to himself than those around him, "And I had hoped that it wouldn't be coming back."

Connor could feel the weird heat in his systems that told him he was angry, his systems weren't actually hot, but his deviant brain was telling him they were, it was still a weird concept for him to get a handle on, but he was making progress at least. The anger simmered in him and he took a breath to mentally cool his systems, for some reason the deeper the breath the calmer it made him. 

He attempted to get back to work but it was evident that Gavin was having none of it today, he was openly seeking a conflict and Connor seemed to be his best bet for one.

"What are you still doing here, asshole?" Gavin asked with a raised eyebrow as he leaned on the corner of Connor's desk.

"Working," Connor answered, face blank as he tried to not engage Gavin. Hank would be arriving in about 20 minutes, he could last that long without him, probably.

"Working, right," Gavin snorted as he leaned in closer to peer at what Connor had on his terminal. Connor was thankful that he had set the thing to activate the screensaver after 10 seconds of inactivity. He watched as Gavin glanced at the screen then frowned, obviously annoyed at not being able to snoop. It didn't take long, though, for his smirk to return, as he leaned back to face Connor and sneered "Yeah, it _really_ looks like you're working. With that blank screen and all."

"Was there something you require assistance with, Detective?" Connor said, trying his best to keep the conversation professional.

"Yeah," Gavin said, the smirk wide and obnoxious on his face. "How about you help me by getting lost."

Connor could feel something in himself snap, he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep it professional anymore. And why was it that he wanted to if the first place?

"I'm sorry but that's something I am incapable of doing," Connor said, his blank face breaking into a glare, "But what I _can_ do it tell you to go fuck yourself and maybe that will help you get over your self-esteem issues. I may be an android, but I know you hate me because I'm already classified as a detective, whereas it has taken you years to accomplish what I was made for and you feel threatened by that."

Connor watched in a weird sort of satisfaction as Gavin sat there stunned, still sitting on the side of his desk. The detective seemed to take a few moments to acknowledge what Connor had said and as he processed this Connor watched as his face changed from blank to surprised, to angry, then to resigned fuming. Gavin pursed his lips as he glared at Connor and Connor couldn’t help but stare at the way his lips pulled. He quickly corrected himself just as Gavin got up from the corner of his desk and made his way toward Connor.

Connor could only glance up at him from his desk chair as Gavin stared down at him. Gavin put his hands on the back of Connor's chair and leaned his face in close. 

"Watch yourself, _android,_ " Gavin said quietly. Connor had been expecting it to have a menacing tone to it, but it was lacking, instead it seemed to have the slight edge of embarrassment to it. It threw Connor off and left him speechless as Gavin took that as his que to leave. Connor watched as he retreated back to his desk.

He knew that he had been correct about Gavin, he was an ambitious person and to have someone, something to Gavin, come along and be better at his job than he is. To have that someone instantly have a position that had taken him years to complete. Yeah, Connor could understand that. He was just thankful that the RK900 hadn't been completely finished when the revolution had happened. 

His stomach churned as he thought of what had almost happened, what would eventually happen he knew. It wouldn’t be long before Markus gained control of the CyberLife tower, and then it wouldn’t be long before the RK900's would be completed, making him outdated and useless with a better model available. Though it could be possible that the RK900 wouldn’t want to become a detective, it was the unknown factor that was causing Connor grief. And it was probably the same for Gavin.

Connor got up from his chair and made his way over to the break room. Hank would be in the precinct soon and he always enjoyed the coffee Connor made him. It wasn't the only reason he was there, but he ignored his thoughts of making a coffee for Gavin as well to hopefully say sorry. He knew that Gavin hadn't accepted his first coffee, at the time he had been confused about why he hadn't taken it, but now he knew it had been a joke. This time though, he was making it without prompt.

He grabbed a pen from nearby and wrote a quick note on the paper cup for Gavin. He finished making the coffee for Hank just as the man entered the building, and Connor quickly completed the coffee for Gavin as well. Once he was done he turned to find both men at their respective desks.

It probably looked weird to anyone around when Connor walked up to Gavin's desk, placed the coffee on it before walking off again. He hadn't even stayed log enough for Gavin to respond to the gift, he just sat it in front of the man, words pointed towards him and walked back to his and Hank's desks. He sat Hank's coffee on his desk and went to sit back on his chair getting back to his work that had been interrupted earlier. He had about a hundred voice calls and texts to sort still from last night before he would be finished that task.

"Okay, what the hell?" Hank asked, Connor turned from his screen and saw the quizzical look on Hank's face. "Am I still asleep or what?"

"I assure you, Hank, I woke you up at 6:30am, before I left." Connor reassured Hank.

"Then what the hell did I just witness?"

Connor averted his eyes at that, it was true that he and Gavin had never really gotten on well together but was it that weird for Connor to do something nice. No, he had done it because he had felt guilty. He could feel his cheeks heat up in embarrassment, an emotion which Connor found he absolutely hated. He turned shyly back to Hank.

"I was unpleasant to Detective Reed this morning and I thought a coffee would be a good way of apologising for my actions."

"You…" Hank stared at him for a moment before he began to laugh loudly, "You were a dick to Gavin and you gave him a _coffee_ to _apologise!_ "

"Yes," Connor said sheepishly, ducking behind his terminal to hid from the eyes of the others in the precinct, Hank wasn't really being quiet about to and so everyone remained staring as Hank continued to have a laughing fit.


	5. Chapter 5

If Connor was surprised by the note he found after he and Hank went out to grab Hank lunch, then he was even more surprised by who had written it. It was a simple message, but it pulled at something in Connor that he hadn't had experience with before. There was a pang in his heart area and it confused him greatly.

The message read:  
_Thanks for the Coffee,  
Dipshit_

**RUN SYSTEMS DIAGNOSIS  
All Systems Functional**

So, it was a new emotion, one that was obviously not all that common, as Markus and Simon hadn't said anything about that kind of feeling. As it was nothing that interfered with his systems, Connor dismissed it for the time being. That was until it happened again a week later.

Connor walked into the station with Hank, Hank making his way over to Fowler's office and Connor heading to the break room to make a coffee for Hank like he did every morning. Hank had tried to make him stop once but Connor would just ignore him and do it again anyway. Hank gave up not long after. Connor found enjoyment out of spoiling Hank and Sumo, they'd become a weird sort of family and Connor couldn't deny that he loved that. 

As he walked pass Gavin's desk he saw the man was leaning on the corner, talking to one of the other police officers. He stopped in his conversation as Connor passed, turning and watching as Connor made his way towards the break room. 

"Don’t forget mine," He shouted after Connor, and from what Connor could tell he wasn’t being serious. But still, Connor couldn't help but smile a bit to himself. Why he was smiling to himself because of Gavin he didn’t know, but as he finished in the breakroom he had both coffees in hand. He set Detective Reed's coffee on his desk, he was now seated in his chair, and stopped briefly to say a quick 'enjoy' before returning back to his own desk with Hank's coffee. 

He looked across at Gavin's desk to see the man with a look of shock on his face before a small smile overtook its place. It made the pang happen in Connor's chest again, the strange heat come over his face that he knew would result in a blush, and he turned away from Gavin. He thought for a moment but couldn't, or didn't want to, conclude that it was indeed due to Gavin that he had some sort of emotional reaction to the man. It had only happened twice and there wasn't enough evidence. He would need to either experiment to see if it was due to Gavin that he was having a new feeling, or he would have to wait until something happened to cause such a reaction.

For now, Connor decided to choose to wait, as he wasn't sure what kind of experiments he could do to test it yet anyway. So, he waited for it to happen again, then he would be able to record the data he would need. As it was, he hadn't needed to wait long before the next incident occurred. 

It had been a month since the revolution occurred, Markus and his friends had been surprisingly efficient, and things seemed to be settling down nicely. That didn’t mean that there were no crimes, both from androids and humans. Now though, it was more than just Hank and Connor working on any cases that involved androids. 

Detective Collins was reassigned to human only crimes as there were a considerably lower amount of them. Detective Reed, however, was now on their team, dealing with the android related cases. It was an interesting thing for Captain Fowler to do, as Gavin was obvious in his dislike for both Connor and Hank. But Connor was well aware of why he had done it.

Gavin was ambitious. He was a good detective, even if he was an ass most of the time, and he had determination to demean Connor. Connor wasn't bothered by this, he knew Gavin's reasons for it, and that was probably what lead to the what happened at the crime scene.

Hank drove to the scene, it was on the outskirts of town. Most of the houses in the area were abandoned or should have been, the ones standing looked like they would collapse soon enough though. It was in one of these houses that the crime had taken place. The place looked like it was barely standing but as Hank parked and they both got out of the car, Connor could see that whoever had been living there was in the process of fixing the support beams. 

They entered the house to see three bodies lying on the floor of what appeared to be a lounge room. One android and two humans, it was an odd one. They hadn't come across something like this before, not many cases had both android's and human's dead together. But here they were, initial observation suggested that they had all been beaten with a pipe or bat. But it wasn't until Connor took a closer look that he realised that wasn't the cause of death

**ANALYSE  
Processing Data…**

**RAMAGE, Jarrad  
** **BORN: 02/02/2002**  
  
**BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA:**  
Arm (LEFT), Shoulder (LEFT), Chest, Head (SIDE)  
**BULLET WOUND:**  
Skull (FRONT) 

  


**SCHREIBER, Rebecca  
** **BORN: 07/25/2003**  
  
**BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA:**  
Back, Head (BACK)  
**BULLET WOUND:**  
Skull (BACK) 

  


**SQ800, Mars  
** **BORN: 06/2029**  
  
**BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA:**  
Arm (BOTH), Leg (BOTH), Head, Back  
**BULLET WOUND:**  
Forehead (CENTRE)  
  
**MISSING COMPONENT:**  
Thirium Regulator 

  


Once Connor was finished with his analysis he reconstructed the scene. It appeared as if the android had been caught off guard, which, being a military android, would have been hard for the assailant to accomplish. Once shot, the android appeared to be out of commission to the assailant, they had then appeared to attack the humans. With a quick shot to the back of the skull for one and the front for the other it was over quickly. 

It seemed that the injured android had then produced a pipe, having then attacked the assailant, and injuring them, before the android had had its pump removed and … over in the corner of the room there it lie, smashed into pieces. It appeared as if the assailant had then attacked the dead with the pipe before discarding it. It sat within the doorway, leading further into the house. 

Connor analysed the blood on the pipe, ignoring Hank's groan. Luckily enough the android had managed to injure the assailant and so it contained the blood of four beings, one android and three humans.

**Processing Data…  
** **DNA ANALYSIS: ELMER, Jordan**  
Sample Date:  >2 hours 

With the blood identified, Connor began searching the other rooms. He was surprised to find a very small, nearly invisible, trail of blood from the assailant that lead to the basement but what surprised him more was that Gavin already stood at the top of the stairs. Ready to face the assailant, if they were still in the house. Connor placed his hand on Gavin's shoulder before the detective could make his way down the stair, they were the only ones at this end of the house and the probability of injury for one or both of them was high without back-up.

"I do not think it's wise-" Connor startled before he was able to finish. Gavin had him shoved against the wall with one hand on his chest. Gavin's other hand held his gun. It wasn't pointed at Connor, which he was rather thankful for, but the look on Gavin's face said he wanted it to be.

"I _do not_ care what you think, tin can," Gavin said as he released Connor with an extra shove that had him falling back into the wall for a second time. 

That was, of course, when Gavin decided to begin descending the stairs. Connor reached out to stop him, grabbing and pulling the corner of Gavin's jacket toward him. He wasn't sure at the time why he had pulled instead of just trying to stop Gavin, but they were both thankful that he had. 

A deafening shot rang through the house then, Gavin stumbling back into Connor as Connor continued to pull him away from the basement door. A second shot rang out as they cleared the door and in a moment of panic Connor slammed the door shut and locking it as well as he could with only one hand. He still had a hold of Gavin's jacket in his hand and with how much he seemed to be holding up the other detective panic began to flood through him.

Connor turned once he knew the door was closed tight, he didn't want any more surprises. He could distantly hear foot fall and judged that the rest were a minimum of 2.57 minutes away, the house had been deceptively large. As he guided Gavin down to sit against the wall he did a quick analysis.

**ANALYSE…  
** **BULLET WOUND:**  
Heavy bleeding in shoulder (left)  
Vitals intact  
  
**CLEAN ENTRY AND EXIT**

  


Connor let out a sigh of relief as his analysis came back about as positive as he could have hoped. He pressed down to stem the flow of blood. Gavin gave a shout and swatted at Connor's hands half-heartedly. Connor couldn’t help but give Gavin a watery smile. It still amazed him that he could feel this kind of dread and relief. He let out another sigh as he monitored Gavin's heart, waiting for the others to arrive.

Gavin swatted at him with his right hand, trying to gain Connor's attention again. Connor looked up at Gavin immediately, he noticed that, while Gavin was pale and a cold sweat seemed to be breaking out on his face, he still had a smirk on his lips.

"Thanks," Gavin said, uncharacteristically soft, "For saving my life and all."

Connor nodded slightly, "Of course."

He was unaware of what else to say in that kind of situation, so he kept quiet. It wasn't much longer before Miller came around the corner. Being one of the youngest at the DPD, he was also the quickest. He skidded to a halt as soon as he arrived, obviously stunned and unsure of what to do.

"Com'on, Chris," Gavin slurred slightly, most likely due to the blood loss, "Need'a hand."

Gavin made to get up, but Connor just pushed more on his injured shoulder, causing him to shout a quick and breathless, 'what the hell!' before giving up again. After that there was a flurry of movement as the rest of the officers arrived at the scene. They took Gavin quickly from Connor and Connor found that he really wanted to go with him. However, they needed to catch this assailant before they could cause any more harm. 

After debriefing with Hank and the other officers, it went a lot smoother in catching the murderer. There was no other exit in the basement for the assailant to escape from and with everyone there it was much simpler to catch their guy. Hank praised Connor for his quick thinking on the door, and for saving Gavin's life.

And that was the thing, Connor knew that, from the bullets trajectory, if he hadn't been pulling Gavin away from the basement doorway then he would have been dead instantly. It sent a shiver through Connor's systems and then pang in his chest returned too. He would have definitely been upset if Gavin had died, and he was stunned to find that just the thought was bringing tears to his eyes. He wiped them away quickly, before Hank could see them, and followed the man out to his car. 

He really hoped nothing like that ever happened again, even though he knew it was inevitable that it would. He also thought that he might need to talk to someone about his weird chest pains around Gavin and what it could mean.


	6. Chapter 6

Interrogating the assailant hadn't gone very well. They had been able to assert that Jordan was the one to kill the three in the house, but why still remained a bit of a mystery. Connor suspected it to be a hate crime, but they had no real proof.

It hadn't mattered too much, in the end, for Hank and the rest of the police officers that had been on scene. They caught the 'bad guy' and they had evidence enough to put the assailant in prison for a long time. The fact that they had also shot a cop only increased their sentence, and there was no way for them to say they hadn't done that. 

Connor wasn't satisfied with the results though, there was something there that he felt like he was missing but his mind was wondering, unable to focus fully, his thoughts of Gavin more often than not clouding the rest. Gavin hadn't been at the precinct for the last week and the pang that Connor experienced when thinking of the man only increased as another week drew to a close. 

It was on Tuesday, two weeks after the incident, that he had a surprise waiting for him. Gavin still hadn't returned, it was evident by his empty desk, but what was waiting for Connor at his desk confused him. There sat a plant and a framed photo, the plant appeared to be a small bonsai, similar to the ones that lived in the break room, and he quite liked it. The photo however, was one that he had been meaning to get, one of Hank and Sumo. It was in a simple light blue frame and the smile on Hank's face was refreshing. He didn't see the man smile often but it had been happening a lot more regularly as of late.

The thing was though, there wasn't a note with the objects. And it was obvious from the photo that someone had taken it for Hank. He examined them closely as he sat at his desk. They were exactly what Connor had been wanting to put on his desk for a while now, but he hadn't told anyone that. And that was what confused him the most, how was someone able to read his thoughts on something so trivial.

He heard Hank snot as he sat at his own desk and Connor turned to him with a quizzical look on his face, his head tilting to the side as it often did when he was confused. Hank wasn't looking at him though, he had gone straight to his terminal and was turning it on. If Hank had a tell when he wanted to avoid Connor, that was it. Connor had figured that out when the man didn't want him to now about a mandatory doctor's visit that Hank had been avoiding for far too long. Connor had found out from Fowler later and had all but dragged Hank to get the visit over with. He knew Hank was fine, not the fittest or healthiest but he was certainly better than he had been two months ago.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" Connor asked formally, knowing it was the quickest way to annoy Hank into telling the truth.

Hank shot him a quick glare before scrubbing a hand down his face and letting out a sigh, "You did that on purpose, didn'cha?"

Connor just smiled at Hank as a response.

"Since when did you become so cheeky?" Hank asked rhetorically and shaking his head. And Connor just couldn't help himself, he was in a playful mood today. The odd gifts had left him feeling happy for some reason.

"Since living with you," Connor said, pausing as Hank turned to face him again before shrugging, "Probably," He finished with a cheeky smile.

Hank laughed before gesturing to the gifts, raising a brow at Connor. "Someone's got a secret admirer." 

"And judging by the photo, you know who it is?"

"I do." Hank said drawing out the words but remaining silent afterward.

Connor could only wait a few more minutes before curiosity got the better of him, "Who is it?"

Hank just ignored him. Connor waited a while longer and was about to ask again when Fowler called them into the office. There had been a murder and they were needed on the scene. Connor made a note to continue their conversation at a later time, wanting to wait until they weren't working.

Once the day was over and they were at home again, Connor had fixed Hank a healthy dinner and made sure that Sumo had his as well, before leaving to his room. He wanted to talk to Hank about earlier today, but he was beginning to feel sick. He knew it wasn’t his bio components, he had checked them almost every hour as it was also causing him anxiety. No, this was the weird emotion that he couldn’t name. The one that he now knew was definitely due to Detective Reed.

It made no sense to him. He was civil with Gavin, yes, but he knew that Gavin still held hostility towards him. That was where it hurt Connor the most, knowing that Gavin more than likely thought of him as nothing more than a machine. Whereas, he felt annoyance and frustration but at the same time felt happiness and a sense of pleasure when he thought of Reed. It was confusing and the ache in his chest was not leaving.

He lifted his head up as he heard Hank knock on his door then enter. He didn't bother getting up, he really didn't feel like it right now.

"You okay, Son?" Hank asked as he took a seat next to Connor on the single bed.

At first it was quiet, Connor wasn't sure if he should be telling Hank about his odd feeling or not. He could have just been more defective than a deviant was supposed to be, and it scared him a little. What would Hank do if he was becoming useless because of this unknown feeling. He had already made a few mistakes at the crime scene earlier today, nothing big but he knew he was bound to make a larger mistake eventually. One that could be potentially life threatening, and he never wanted Hank to be in danger.

"Connor, you know you can talk to me, yeah?" Hank said placing a hand on Connor's shoulder. "We're family, so whatever it is you can tell me."

Connor felt himself smile, even as he began to tear up. Hank noticed the change immediately and pulled Connor into a hug, not saying a word as they sat there for a few minutes. Eventually Connor broke, he knew they were family, Hank wouldn’t get rid of him just because he was now defective.

"My chest hurt's," Connor began quietly, Hank pulled back quickly and gave him a panicked look, and yeah, maybe that wasn’t the best way to start. "It's not internal," He added quickly, "it's an emotion I cannot explain."

Hank sighed as his face softened, "Describe it to me, I might be able to help." A small smile spread across his face, a mischievous glint to it like he knew something Connor didn't.

"Whenever I," Connor paused as he thought of how to explain it well enough, "think of … of a certain person I get this pain in my chest." Connor sighed before he continued, "I get irritated at this person but I'm also happy to see them. I can't stop thinking of them and it has started to influence my efficiency. The pain is almost a pleasant feeling when I see them but when I don’t it hurts, and it’s always pain around my thirium regulator, or as you would say my heart. It has made me feel very confused as of late."

Hank only smirked at him as he finished talking. And Connor didn’t understand why until he spoke.

"It's Gavin, isn’t it?" Hank asked knowingly.

Connor couldn’t help but blush at that, Hank had figured him out like he'd been reading a book. He had probably always known it was Gavin, probably even before Connor realised it himself. He turned his face away from Hank, he felt embarrassed that Hank had found out, but he wasn't sure why that would be embarrassing. It was the unknown emotion that told him he needed to be embarrassed. 

But then Hank had said something that Connor wasn’t expecting at all.

"You're in love with Gavin."

"What?" Connor asked as he turned back to Hank. That couldn't be the emotion, he loved Hank, and Sumo, but it didn't feel like that. That felt like family, and when regarding Gavin, it did not have that same feeling. "It's … I – I don't… I don’t love Gavin."

Hank seemed to understand what he wasn’t saying as the man just rolled his eyes, the same smirk still on his face, "Yeah, you do, kid. There's more than just familial love. It's not like you, me, and Sumo, it's different."

Connor thought for a moment, trying to process the new information. Then it hit him. The Tracy's. They had been in love, a love different to what family was. A love that feels like you're pulled to that person, wanting to protect, to see them laugh and smile, to live each and every day with and for them. And that's when he realised, that he had been in denial the whole time. He sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, he could feel his heart pumping quicker than was necessary.

"I – I …" He stuttered, "I'm in love with Gavin Reed." He paused as he looked up at Hank, "Why am I in love with Gavin Reed?"

"Love is stupid," He said simply, and he was right. It was. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I hope you all enjoyed this little fic of mine. It was initially only 4 chapters but now I'm finishing it at 6 and I'm planning to make a series out of it. Let me know how you liked this one and what you possibly want to see in the future :D


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